The Manitoba Liberal Party is proposing a new provincial police service, specifically to help rural and northern communities.
Leader Dougald Lamont says one of the reasons why his party wants to create the Manitoba Police service is because rural and northern communities are underserved.
“There just aren’t enough boots on the ground. We don’t have enough coverage of large parts of rural and northern areas. And sometimes the police don’t have enough resources and enough training and that’s unfair to the police and it’s unfair to the community.”
“People are often concerned about the high crime rates in Winnipeg, but there are higher crime rates outside of Winnipeg in rural and northern areas. Thompson is a hotspot and people have the right to feel safe in their homes and that hasn’t happened.”
Lamont adds that the MPS would not replace existing police forces in the communities, including First Nations policing, as the MPS would instead work in partnership with local police services, and offer training and resources.
The MPS would have a focus on border enforcement, as well as white collar and commercial crime, and will also have an Indigenous Unit led by First Nations, which is a recommendation of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Report.
